On Sunday, a Paterno family-commissioned report stated that Paterno was not in the wrong in the way he handled the Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal and that the observations in the Freeh Report "are unfounded, and have done a disservice not only to Joe Paterno and the university community, but also to the victims of Jerry Sandusky and the critical mission of educating the public on the dangers of child sexual victimization."

The Paterno family went after findings from former FBI director Louis Freeh with a report of its own. The family had its attorney, Wick Sollers, put together a team of experts to review the Freeh Report's findings, Sue Paterno wrote in a letter. She contacted more than one hundred former Penn State players to alert them that the findings of the report would be released Sunday. Her interview with Katie Couric is scheduled to air on TV on Monday in most markets.

In a statement posted on paterno.com, the rebuttal — termed the "Critique of the Freeh Report" — calls the Freeh report a "rush to judgment" in its treatment of Joe Paterno. The complete statement, which consists of 238 pages, was posted on the site Sunday morning.

"Given my 30 years of education, training and experience working, evaluating and assessing child sex crimes investigations around the world, it is my expert opinion that Paterno did not know, or even believe in the possibility, that Sandusky was capable of sexually assaulting boys," former FBI profiler Jim Clements wrote. "At worst, he believed that Sandusky was a touchy-feely guy who had boundary issues. This fact is clear from his repeated statements before he died."

In interviews with attorneys representing former Penn State officials (university president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz), the Paterno family’s team of experts concluded that "the late Penn State Coach Joe Paterno did not attempt to hide any information or hinder or impede any investigation related to the crimes or conduct of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky."

"The Freeh report is a profound failure," Sollers said in the release. "It isn't a little wrong on the minor issues. It is totally wrong on the most critical issues. That the Board and the NCAA relied on this report, without appropriate review or analysis, is a miscarriage of justice."

Among the main findings in the family’s investigation of the Freeh report:

— Joe Paterno never asked or told anyone not to investigate fully the allegations in 2001.

— Paterno never asked or told anyone not to report the 2001 incident.

— Paterno never asked or told anyone not to discuss or to hide the information reported by Mike McQueary.

"In my opinion, the Freeh Report is seriously flawed, both with respect to the process of the SIC's (Special Investigative Counsel) investigation and its findings related to Mr. Paterno," former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh wrote.

Freeh, in his report, said his team conducted 430 interviews and analyzed over 3.5 million emails and documents. The former federal judge said evidence showed Paterno was involved in an "active agreement to conceal" and his report cited email exchanges, which referenced Paterno, between administrators about allegations against Sandusky in 1998 and 2001.

In a statement released Sunday through a spokesman, Freeh defended his work.

"I stand by our conclusion that four of the most powerful people at Penn State failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade," he said.

Freeh said he respected the family's right to conduct a campaign to "shape the legacy of Joe Paterno," but called the critique self-serving. Paterno's attorney was contacted for an interview the coach, he said, and Paterno spoke with a reporter and biographer before his death but not Freeh's team.

Sandusky was arrested in November 2011 and in June 2012, he was convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period—a total of 45 charges. Witnesses said Sandusky used The Second Mile, a charity he founded to help disadvantaged children, as a recruiting ground for his victims. He showered them with gifts, brought them around the Penn State football program and welcomed them in his home.

Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison on 45 counts of child sexual abuse charges. The former Penn State assistant, and at one time presumed successor to Paterno, will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

In July, NCAA president Mark Emmert levied unprecedented sanctions against Penn State for its role in the Sandusky scandal. The penalties included a $60 million fine (equal to one year's revenue of the Penn State football program), loss of 40 scholarships (10 per year for next four years), four-year postseason ban, vacating victories from 1998-2011 (includes 111 Paterno victories), and a five-year probation.

An NCAA spokeswoman said the organization stood by its previous statements and declined comment Sunday.